SPECIAL WELCOME
Seven new refugee families arriving in Pictou County.
In the space of a single month, the prospect of resettling seven Syrian families in Pictou County has moved from an exciting challenge to an unfolding reality as five families have arrived and a sixth is expected Thursday night.
Since Thanksgiving weekend volunteers have been scurrying to divide furnishings, towels, bedding and kitchen necessities between various rental properties, determined that these new arrivals will have basic comforts and a warm welcome.
This second small wave of Syrian immigration comes two years after the first families settled here. Those arriving in the past week were known in Syria as White Helmets, a civil defence group dedicated to helping victims of violence and documenting war atrocities. One hundred and six of them and their families were spirited out of southern Syria by an international effort when they became a specific target in the sevenyear civil war. Thanks in large part to the Canadian government and its diplomatic personnel, 422 people crossed under cover of darkness to the Golan Heights on a late July night and were transported to a refugee camp in Jordan on the condition that their stay be as short as possible. It was hoped 800 could be rescued but half were intercepted and their whereabouts is unknown.
In the weeks that followed the dramatic rescue, which included pledges from the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Sweden and Canada to resettle the refugees, Sarah MacIntosh Wiseman was approached by a member of the local business community.
“He felt we could use these people to build our community. He also suggested the business community would help with the cost of some of the necessary services.”
MacIntosh Wiseman got the support of Trinity United Church which played a major role in supporting the first refugees to arrive locally and approached the federal government. At that point, she was made aware the Shapiro Foundation and federal government would share the first year cost of these families.
“That changed everything. It became possible for us to bring in a larger number of families.”
MacIntosh Wiseman immediately contacted Pictou’s CAIRN (Communities Assisting Refugees Now) which previously brought two families to Pictou and they agreed to take on another two families.
“From the time we approached the government to the time our first family arrived was less than a month so the process has been unbelievably fast.”
Mac, Mac and Mac legal firm volunteered to set up one of the households and Crombie REIT took on another while other volunteers divided up the rest of the work.
Last week furniture was barely in place and the toddler’s bed topped with a teddy bear sporting a Canada T- shirt before a small contingent went to meet the first family - a couple and a toddler – at the airport.
Two and a half years earlier Safe Harbour brought Rania Almethyb, her husband Basem and their then four children to New Glasgow. Before Almethyb arrived, MacIntosh Wiseman asked Tareq Hadhad, who had already relocated to Antigonish from Syria and whose family later established Peace by Chocolate, to try to contact the Almethybs directly to reassure them they would be looked after on arrival.
“Within two hours he had talked to Rania and he was able to encourage and reassure her and
that was tremendously helpful,” said MacIntosh Wiseman.
Because the current group of refugees is being moved within a much shorter timeframe it was not possible to make contact at the refugee camp but Almethyb met the new arrivals at the airport, greeting them in their own language, answering their anxious questions and welcoming them on behalf of Safe Harbour.
“To have Rania with us, speaking to them in their language and with her generous, outgoing personality was wonderful.”
Jim McKenna of Safe Harbour was charged with transporting the luggage, if the family had any.
“I was deeply moved witnessing this young couple with their
infant child arrive in this country with two simple suitcases, representing their only possessions,” he said.
A few Safe Harbour members, a few local Muslims and a few 2016 refugees were gathered at the family’s new temporary residence where a home-cooked Syrian meal awaited the exhausted travelers.
On Monday night, last week’s new arrivals were back at the airport with Safe Harbour and CAIRN to meet the next families, two for Pictou and one for New Glasgow, greeting them in their own language and sharing first impressions of their new home. Something similar will happen again tonight when two
more families arrive. The last of the White Helmet families is expected next week.
The four years Cathy and Dave Hanley spent overseas after retirement prompted them to get involved with the Syrian families in 2016.
“We know what it is to be in a country where you don’t speak the language, even though our circumstances certainly didn’t compare to people fleeing a war. I don’t have the words to say what this experience with the Syrian families has been like. It just makes me happy,” said Cathy Hanley, a retired English teacher.
She, Shirley MacIntosh and Sue MacIntosh are the jugglers in charge of channeling a stream of
donations to the new households.
“People have been amazing, as in the past, but if anyone can donate a washer we’d love to hear from them,” said Hanley.
She is also looking for a retired high school math teacher who might be able to provide some tutoring, as needed.
Anyone with specific items to donate can contact pcsafeharbour@gmail.com to see what is still required.
Rosalie MacEachern is a Stellarton resident and freelance writer. She seeks out people who work behind the scenes on hobbies or jobs that they love the most. If you know someone you think she should profile in an upcoming article, she can be reached at rosaliemaceachern4@gmail.com.